Russian River Janet’s Brown Ale

This recipe is based on notes from Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo, who shared details from his most recent commercial-scale iteration of the late Mike “Tasty” Mcdole’s famous homebrew recipe.

ALL-GRAIN

Batch size: 5.5 gallons (21 liters)

Brewhouse efficiency: 72%

OG: 1.074

FG: 1.021

IBUS: 42

ABV: 7.2%

MALT/GRAIN BILL

9 lb (4.1 kg) pale two-row

2.25 lb (1 kg) Simpsons Best Pale Malt

1.5 lb (680 g) Briess Carapils

1.25 lb (567 g) Great Western White Wheat Malt 1 lb (454 g) Great Western Crystal 40L

8 oz (227 g) Simpsons Chocolate Malt

4 oz (113 g) dextrose

HOPS SCHEDULE

0.85 oz (24 g) Brewer’s Gold as mash hops [5 IBUS] 0.85 oz (24 g) Brewer’s Gold at 60 minutes [28 IBUS] 0.55 oz (16 g) Brewer’s Gold at 15 minutes [5 IBUS] 0.75 oz (21 g) Cascade at 10 minutes [4 IBUS]

2 oz (57 g) Cascade at flameout

2 oz (57 g) Centennial at dry hop for 7 days

YEAST

White Labs WLP001 California Ale

DIRECTIONS

Mill the grains, add the mash hops, and mash at 154°F (68°C) for 30 minutes. (For more about mash hopping, see “Learning Lab: More Ways to Get Hoppy, beerandbrewing.com.) Raise the temperature to 170°F (77°C) for 15 minutes and mash out. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. Chill to 66–68°F (19–20°C), aerate well, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 68°F (20°C) for 2–3 weeks, then cold crash, add the dry hops, and after 7 days package, and carbonate.

BREWER’S NOTES

Mcdole used a water profile slanted heavily toward sulfate: calcium 110 ppm, magnesium 18 ppm, sodium 17 ppm, sulfate 350 ppm, chloride 50 ppm. pale lager. From a weird mishmash of Whole Earth Catalog DIY hippies and military vets looking to re-create their overseas beer experiences, there came a riot of flavors and colors.

Make no mistake: Color was important. For decades, the marketing battle had centered on the virtues of “golden” as the mark of “premium.” With copper, brown, and black beers, upstart brewers changed the framing and allowed a beer lover to really stand out. (You can see a similar effect with the “grammability” of the juicy IPAS.)

American brown’s heyday came in the 1990s, best exemplified by the second-best-selling craft beer—pete’s Wicked Ale. The titular Pete, Pete Slosberg, took the flavors and experiences of Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown and Americanized it with a stronger dosing of hops and a drier edge. Other beers followed in its wake, such as Big Sky Moose Drool and Rogue Hazelnut Brown.

So, what was the appeal?

Aside from the color, it was the malt explosion—a rich flavor that didn’t overwhelm your palate. The interplay of flavors was appealing: chewy caramel malt, a hint of chocolate roast, and a lightly bitter bite of hops to wash it all away before the next sip. Some went for more assertive British yeast esters to give a fruity air to the beer, while others favored the malt and hops with cleaner-profile American yeasts. If all you knew about beer was that it was fizzy, yellow, and watery or weirdly bitter, then brown ale would be a revelation. (Side Note: I still firmly believe that porter, stout, and brown ale are the best beers to give to people who think they hate beer. If they like coffee or chocolate, they’ll find plenty to love.)

“Dark beer” was new. It was exciting. And just like everything else new and exciting, it eventually ceased to be that. Pete’s peaked in the late 1990s and held on through a long slow fade. American brown ale developed the same “stodgy old man” reputation that dogs mild ales.

American brown ale has, by and large, receded or else been crowded out by other styles. It’s rare to see them as core beers, though there are exceptions and a few stalwarts still lurking on tap lists. I really like Avery Ellie’s Brown, and—local to me—figueroa Mountain’s Davy Brown. (Editor’s note: See also Rocket Frog’s Brewer’s Perspective and recipe for their award-winning flagship Wallops Island, pages 77–78.)

American brewers being who we are, there are also countless riffs on imperial brown ale (Firestone Walker Bravo is a beauty) and even brown IPA.

To Janet’s Brown, and to Tasty

And, in the homebrew world, there’s Janet’s Brown Ale. This is a strong, hop-forward American brown ale created by Mike “Tasty” Mcdole in homage to his late wife. A big but not unreasonable 7 percent ABV, Janet’s is stuffed with abundant hops and balanced by a hefty, but not cloying, malt presence. This has become a staple recipe in the homebrew world, and it’s even found purchase among professional brewers—such as Russian

River (whose own Janet’s Brown scored a 96